A salute to do-gooders among us and a challenge to join them

We saw an example just Monday night with the Taste of Elmore County at the Civic Center. The money raised through this fundraiser goes to the Elmore County Food Pantry, which is dedicated to providing food for Elmore County’s needy. Seniors and children are the two largest populations that receive food assistance. Seniors on fixed incomes often must choose to spend their money on food, much-needed medicine, sometimes even shelter. A hand up from the Food Pantry can ease the pain of that choice.

In the case of children, studies have shown that children who are better feed perform better in school. No one wants to see a child go hungry.

Of course, the Food Pantry family isn’t alone among us. Rea Cord at the Humane Society of Elmore County does a wonderful service to the county in her own right. The HSEC has been located in the same place (at the intersection of Alabama Highway 9 and U.S. 231 for almost 20 years. The shelter is an open-admission shelter, taking in over 5,000 domestic animals annually from Elmore County citizens and from the various animal control officers throughout the county and works every day to provide a safe and humane environment for the 250-300 animals in its care and find loving and lifetime homes for as many of them as possible.

One of the Humane Society’s biggest fundraisers is coming on Feb. 17 when it holds its annual ‘Getting’ Down with the Dogs’ $10,000 drawdown and tickets are available now.

We encourage you to help the HSEC continue to do good and do a little good yourself and buy a ticket and extend a kudos to Rea and her board, as well.

There are still more among us who go about every day doing good, too many to mention, in fact. There’s Butterfly Bridge Child Advocacy Center, our police, sheriff’s office, firefighters and other first responders. There are volunteers that expose our children to art, music and help those interested in sports learn how to play – and often excel – at their chosen game. And let’s certainly not forget our educators who take our children in their hands every day for the majority of the year to nurture them in their pursuits of education. And are terribly underpaid in doing so.

It’s no secret that there’s a crazy hard-to-understand world out there and it grows more that way each and every day. But it’s not difficult to understand good when it’s being done in your own backyard. That’s as easy as proverbial pie.

So to all these do-gooders as well as the ones I’ve forgotten and/or don’t have the space to specifically mention, I say, “Thank you.” Without you, the world would be so much more ugly and cruel. With you and through what you do, we get to see the bright sunshine of humanity and our love for one another.

So, do good, if you aren’t already. Find your niche to serve your fellow man. Or maybe you’d prefer working with the neglected among our furry friends.

Some might think volunteers work for free but the satisfaction you feel and the good you see come from the fruit of your labors is truly food for the soul.